Did you wonder why your mother insisted you soak your almonds before consuming them? Here’s why… It has nothing to do with taste; it is simply the healthier option.
The brown peel of almonds contains tannin that inhibits nutrient absorption. Once you soak almonds the peel comes off easily and allows the nut to release all nutrients easily. Soak a handful of almonds in half a cup of water. Cover them and allow them to soak for 8 hours. Drain the water, peel off the skin and store them in plastic container. These soaked almonds will last you for about a week. Benefits of soaked almonds: 1. Help with digestion - Soaking almonds helps to release enzymes such as lipase that in turn help with digestion of fats. 2. Help with weight-loss - The monounsaturated fats in almonds curb your appetite and keep you full. So feel free to snack on them because they'll help you avoid binge-eating and trigger weight-loss. 3. Almonds keep your heart healthy, reduce bad cholesterol (low density lipoprotein) and increase good cholesterol (high density lipoprotein). 4. They are a good source of antioxidants: Vitamin E present in soaked almonds works as an antioxidant that inhibits free radical damage that prevents ageing and inflammation. 5. Fight Cancer: Soaked almonds contain Vitamin B17 that is vital for fighting cancer. 6. Flavonoid, present in almonds suppresses tumour growth. 7. Help in lowering and maintaining glucose levels and regulating high blood pressure. 8. Soaked almonds contain folic acid that reduces birth defects.
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Vitamin D is perhaps the single most underrated nutrient in the world of nutrition. That's probably because it's free: your body makes it when sunlight touches your skin.
Vitamin D prevents osteoporosis, depression, prostrate cancer, breast cancer and even has an impact on diabetes and obesity. Vitamin D facts… 1. The healing rays of natural sunlight (that generate vitamin D in your skin) cannot penetrate glass. So you don't generate vitamin D when sitting in your car or home. 2. It is nearly impossible to get adequate amounts of vitamin D from your diet. Sunlight exposure is the only reliable way to generate vitamin D in your own body. 3. A person would have to drink ten tall glasses of vitamin D fortified milk each day just to get minimum levels of vitamin D into their diet. 4. People with dark skin pigmentation may need 20 - 30 times as much exposure to sunlight as fair-skinned people to generate the same amount of vitamin D. That's why prostate cancer is epidemic among black men - it's a simple, but widespread, sunlight deficiency. 5. Sufficient levels of vitamin D are crucial for calcium absorption in your intestines. Without sufficient vitamin D, your body cannot absorb calcium, rendering calcium supplements useless. 6. Chronic vitamin D deficiency cannot be reversed overnight: it takes months of vitamin D supplementation and sunlight exposure to rebuild the body's bones and nervous system. 7. Even weak sunscreens (SPF=8) block your body's ability to generate vitamin D by 95%. This is how sunscreen products actually cause disease -by creating a critical vitamin deficiency in the body. 8. It is impossible to generate too much vitamin D in your body from sunlight exposure: your body will self-regulate and only generate what it needs. 9. If it hurts to press firmly on your sternum, you may be suffering from chronic vitamin D deficiency right now. 10. Vitamin D is "activated" in your body by your kidneys and liver before it can be used and kidney disease or liver damage can greatly impair your body's ability to activate circulating vitamin D. 11. On the issue of sunlight exposure it turns out that super antioxidants greatly boost your body's ability to handle sunlight without burning. Astaxanthin is one of the most powerful "internal sunscreens" and can allow you to stay under the sun twice as long without burning. Last week we talked about left nostril breathing to calm yourself down and relax. Right nostril breathing, on the other hand gives you more energy. Are you feeling run down and tired... try this simple breathing technique that can alter the way you feel.
When you need clarity, focus and more energy, try right nostril (Pingala) breathing. Simply sit up straight, take your left hand and, with your fingers outstretched, block off your left nostril by putting gentle pressure on it with your left thumb. Inhale and exhale slow and deep through the right nostril. Do it continuously for 2-3 mins whenever you need the extra boost of energy. Visualize the sun and feel the sun energy flowing in your body, energizing every cell in your body. Doing is believing.... Yogi Bhajan Do you need to calm down? Are you finding it difficult to sleep? Try this simple breathing exercise and notice the difference.
Have you ever wondered why you have two nostrils instead of one big one? Our body is a finely tuned machine operating on positive and negative electrical currents. In the ancient science of Kundalini Yoga we are taught that there are two energies called Ida and Pingala that intertwine up the sides of the spine and that unite to form the Sushmana, the central channel. The Ida energy, on the left, is the moon energy: reflective, calming, cooling, female. The right is Pingala and has the energy of the sun; bright, fiery, awakening and male. We compare these systems in our Western terminology as the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic system, Pingala, is the fight or flight system and charges you up in times of danger. The parasympathetic system, Ida, slows you down and helps your body automatically run its day-to-day jobs of digestion, elimination, sleep cycles and more. When you need to calm down, when your mind is racing very fast, or when you can’t go to sleep, try left nostril (Ida) breathing. Simply take your right hand and, with your fingers outstretched, block off your right nostril by putting gentle pressure on it with your right thumb. Be sure to keep the rest of your fingers straight and pointing up towards the sky; the fingers act like antennas for the “cosmic” energy that surrounds us all. Inhale and exhale deeply through the left nostril. Visualize the moon and feel the moon energy flowing in your body, cooling you down. Consciously relax with every new breath. As you exhale breathe out all tension, all stress and all disease. Enjoy being calm and relaxed. |
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